1) Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to a caddy for packaging and transporting shirred food casing sticks, and more specifically to a caddy having a plurality of shirred food casing sticks arranged in a unique configuration therein.
2) Prior Art
Cellulose casings are used during the manufacture of sausages and frankfurters containing meat products, such as, beef, pork or poultry, or blends thereof. The cellulose casings are customarily long, continuous and tubular in length. The long and continuous tubular cellulose casings are shirred and longitudinally compressed onto a stick by known techniques to obtain shorter and relatively rigid tubular articles known in the industry as shirred food casing sticks. As a result, shirred food casing sticks (sticks) are substantially cylindrical in shape and substantially equal in length and diameter. Each of the plurality of sticks has a longitudinal axis, a first end, and a second end opposing the first end. The sticks are arranged in a plurality of generally adjacent packed rows having their longitudinal axes parallel, while the first end of each of the plurality of sticks are coplanar, and the second end of each of the plurality of sticks are coplanar. The sticks are then gathered into pleats nested against one another (shirring) and subsequently shipped to meat manufacturing facilities for stuffing.
During a stuffing procedure, the sticks are individually loaded onto a stuffing horn and a meat emulsion is fed through the horn and into a shirred food casing that is drawn forward from the stick by the stuffing pressure. It is not uncommon for a stick that is 50 centimeters long to contain upwards of 50 meters or more of shirred food casing.
A major disadvantage associated with the sticks having nested pleats is that the shirred food casings themselves are of cellulosic origin and are thus relatively fragile. That is, the shirred food casings are subject not only to undesirable pinhole damage resulting from lateral abrasion during shipping, but also undesirable dimensional changes such as curving, bowing and loss of stick coherency in which the pleats become un-nested and the sticks come apart. As a result, packaging of sticks must prevent undesirable pinhole damage as well as undesirable dimensional changes.
In commercial practice, it is generally customary to tightly bundle sticks together in quantities of fifty (50) with shrink wrap or stretch film (film). Bundling the sticks tightly together accomplishes two important protective functions. First, due to the sticks being tightly bound together, there is less likelihood of relative motion between the sticks, therefore preventing the sticks from rubbing against one another during shipping. As a result, undesirable pinhole damage caused by lateral abrasion during shipping of the shirred food casings is alleviated. Second, undesirable dimensional changes, such as curving, bowing, and loss of stick coherency, are avoided because the sticks are bound together in a tight bundle.
According to conventional practice, the tight bundle of fifty sticks is referred to as a caddy. Most sausage and frankfurter manufacturers prefer this conventional number of fifty sticks per caddy for ease of ordering and record keeping. Furthermore, multiple caddies are oftentimes packed together into a common carton or box made of rigid corrugated fiber board (cardboard). Typical cartons contain four (4), six (6) or eight (8) caddies.
Unfortunately however, a carton containing multiple caddies leaves empty or unused spaces between the caddies themselves and also between the caddies and the surrounding carton. These gaps of unused space are directly attributable to the specific shape of each caddy. Furthermore, the shape of each caddy is directly related to the specific configuration of the fifty sticks housed therein. Oftentimes, the amount of wasted space created between the caddies themselves and also between the caddies and the surrounding carton is quite substantial. This considerable amount of wasted space negatively influences storage and freight volumes by requiring additional amounts of space for the cartons, therefore imparting an undesirable impact on storage and shipping costs. Wasted space also negatively influences the manufacturing costs of the cartons themselves, as unnecessary additional amounts of cardboard is required. Additional amounts of cardboard subsequently increases the volume of waste generated, thus increasing recycling costs.
Because the gaps of unused space are directly attributable to the specific shape of each caddy, which in turn is directly related to the specific configuration of the fifty sticks housed therein, altering the configuration of the fifty sticks should provide an avenue for minimizing the amount of wasted space.
Several alternative stick configurations have been disclosed in the past. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,971,187 to McNeill and U.S. Pat. No. 5,727,364 to Artieda disclose a rectangular stick configuration having five (5) generally adjacent rows and a stacking of 10-10-10-10-10. Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 5,382,190 to Graves discloses a rectangular stick configuration having ten (10) generally adjacent rows and a stacking of 5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5. On the other hand, U.S. Pat. No. 3,971,187 to McNeill, U.S. Pat. No. 5,381,643 to Kazaitis and U.S. Pat. No. 5,382,190 to Graves disclose a rectangular stick configuration having nine (9) generally adjacent and densely packed rows and a stacking of 6-5-6-5-6-5-6-5-6. It has been found that when a film is used for caddy packaging, the rectangular stick configuration of the caddy is unstable. This is attributable to the inward force exerted by the film in tension about each of the four corners of the caddy. Upon handling of the caddy, the four sticks, one stick located at each of the four corners of the caddy, have a tendency to be forced toward a circular configuration. Once the sticks along the corners of the caddy are displaced inward, tension is lost and the caddy becomes flaccid. This destroys the integrity of the caddy by eliminating the protection offered by bundling the sticks tightly together.
Various other alternative packaging arrangements have also been disclosed. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,137,153, 5,228,572 and 5,467,576 to Hendriks and U.S. Pat. No. 5,382,190 to Graves disclose an octagonal stick configuration having nine (9) generally adjacent and densely packed rows and a stacking of 4-5-6-7-6-7-6-5-4. Another alternative packaging arrangement is a hexagonal stick configuration having seven (7) generally adjacent and densely packed rows and a stacking of 7-8-9-8-7-6-5 as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,356,007, to Feldt, U.S. Pat. No. 5,381,643 to Kazaitis, U.S. Pat. No. 5,382,190 to Graves and U.S. Pat. No. 5,391,108 to Feldt. The octagonal stick configuration is unstable and can tip easily. The hexagonal stick configuration is a slight improvement over the octagonal stick configuration in that the hexagonal stick configuration is more stable and thus less likely to tip over. However, both the octagonal and the hexagonal stick configurations suffer from similar drawbacks in that a larger carton is required to contain four octagonal or hexagonal caddies, than is required to contain four conventional rectangular caddies. Therefore, cardboard cartons of a larger surface area are necessary for containing four octagonal or hexagonal caddies as compared to cardboard cartons containing four rectangular caddies. As a result, storage, shipping, manufacturing, and recycling costs are detrimentally increased.
Another alternative packaging arrangement is a heptagonal stick configuration having seven (7) generally adjacent and densely packed rows and a stable stacking of 6-7-8-8-8-7-6 as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,975,301 to Stall. A key feature of Stall is that the fourth (4) row is slightly offset relative to its two adjacent rows, namely rows three (3) and five (5). As a result, the fourth (4) row has a protruding stick on one side and a recess on the opposite side. The protruding stick of one caddy readily fits into the recess of an adjacent caddy thus providing for a tighter more secure compaction between adjacent caddies. As a result, the amount of wasted space between adjacent caddies is slightly decreased. Therefore, four heptagonal caddies require a slightly smaller carton than is required for four octagonal or hexagonal caddies as previously described. Unfortunately however, the heptagonal caddies still require a larger carton than is necessary for four rectangular caddies. Although storage, shipping, manufacturing, and recycling costs for heptagonal caddies are slightly and beneficially decreased relative to cartons containing four octagonal or hexagonal caddies, the costs associated with heptagonal caddies still remains high relative to cartons containing rectangular caddies.
Therefore a need exists for a caddy having a plurality of shirred food casing sticks arranged in a unique configuration therein that decreases the amount of wasted space created between a plurality of caddies that are nested together and also between a plurality of caddies and a surrounding carton thus reducing storage, shipping, manufacturing, and recycling costs.
The present invention is a caddy having a plurality of shirred food casing sticks arranged in a unique configuration therein that decreases the amount of wasted space created between a plurality of caddies that are nested together and also between a plurality of caddies and a surrounding carton. The present invention is also a caddy having a plurality of sticks arranged in a unique configuration therein that aids in achieving optimal utilization of available space for a plurality of caddies nested within a carton thus reducing storage, shipping, manufacturing, and recycling costs.
A preferred embodiment of the present invention includes a caddy for packaging and transporting fifty sticks arranged in a semi-rectangular stick configuration having eight (8) generally adjacent and densely packed rows and a stacking of 6-7-6-7-6-7-6-5. A 6-7-6-7-6-7-6-5 stacking refers to a caddy having a first row that contains six sticks, a second row that contains seven sticks, a third row that contains six sticks, a fourth row that contains seven sticks, a fifth row that contains six sticks, a sixth row that contains seven sticks, a seventh row that contains six sticks, and an eighth row that contains five sticks.
A key feature of a caddy in accordance with the present invention is that a semi-rectangular stick configuration is stable, unlike the conventional rectangular stick configuration, which is unstable. As mentioned previously, the inward force exerted by a film in tension about each of the four ninety degree corners of a caddy having a rectangular stick configuration has a tendency to displace the four sticks, one stick located at each of the four corners, inward toward a flaccid circular configuration, thus destroying the integrity of the rectangular caddy. The present invention overcomes this deficiency in the prior art, while maintaining a semi-rectangular stick configuration, by eliminating the existence of ninety degree corners where inward forces exerted by the film are at their greatest. As a result, the integrity of the semi-rectangular caddy is upheld by more equally distributing the inward forces around the entire circumference of the semi-rectangular caddy.
A preferred embodiment of a pair of caddies, in accordance with the present invention, are coupled together by a series of recessed notches and protruding mating members. The first caddy is coupled with a second caddy. Once the first caddy is coupled with the second caddy, the pair of caddies are mechanically interlocked together. By mechanically interlocking the first caddy together with the second caddy, via a series of recessed notches and protruding mating members, the snugness of the fit between the first caddy and the second caddy is improved.
Because the snugness of the fit between the first caddy and the second caddy is improved, the stability between the first caddy and the second caddy is enhanced as they are held more tightly and securely together. Due to enhanced stability, the caddies are less likely to move during handling and transport thus correlating to a lesser amount of relative motion between the sticks. Therefore, the sticks are prevented from rubbing against one another during shipping. As a result, undesirable pinhole damage of the shirred food casings is alleviated. Furthermore, undesirable dimensional changes, such as curving, bowing, and loss of stick coherency, are also avoided.
Moreover, due to improved snugness between adjacent caddies, the semi-rectangular stick configuration of the present invention, provides for a decreased amount of wasted space between a plurality of caddies that are nested together. In addition, the semi-rectangular stick configuration, having eight (8) generally adjacent and densely packed rows and a stable stacking of 6-7-6-7-6-7-6-5, in accordance with the present invention, also provides for a decreased amount of wasted space between a plurality of caddies and a surrounding carton.
An essential feature of the present invention is that by achieving an optimal utilization of available space for a plurality of caddies nested within a carton, the volume of wasted space is decreased. Therefore a smaller carton is required, which causes the volume of waste generated from the cardboard packaging material to be lower. As a result, storage, shipping, manufacturing, and recycling costs are beneficially reduced.